Posted on

Don Moore (RIP) on Radio Dublin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Don Moore (RIP) on Radio Dublin
Don Moore in 2015 (courtesy of Don’s Facebook page)

It was with sadness that we learned recently of the death of one of the early pioneers of pirate radio in Dublin and Ireland, Don Moore (Dr Don). Here is an early recording of Don on Radio Dublin on Sunday 28th December 1975 from 1400-1630. Don bemoans the fate of another Dublin pirate, Capitol Radio, which had been raided on 21st December and returned to the air on the 28th for a farewell broadcast. Clips from Capitol’s final broadcast are heard, featuring Alan Russell and Ed McDowell, and Don advises listeners to write to the newspapers and the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to complain. He also refers to Radio Mi Amigo on 252 metres, and says that Radio Dublin is blocking reception of their signal locally. Later in the recording, Prince Terry (Roger Lloyd) reads out some letters from listeners including one in Irish which is translated by Dr Don. Skywave interference from Mi Amigo is heard towards the end of the broadcast.

We thank Ian Biggar for donating this recording, which was made originally by Kieran Murray.

Posted on

Interview with Ian Dempsey

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Interview with Ian Dempsey
Ian Dempsey in the ARD/Radio 257 studios at the Crofton (photo courtesy of Noel Hiney).

One of Ireland’s best-known broadcasters, Ian Dempsey, began his radio career in the pirates. In this interview, Ian recalls his first pirate station Capitol Radio in 1978 and his involvement with ARD (Alternative Radio Dublin) from 1979. He was among many DJs at ARD/Radio 257 who would go on to greater fame in the media industry.

Like so many other former pirates, Ian joined RTÉ Radio 2 in its early days. He stayed with the state broadcaster until 1998 when he joined the relaunched national commercial station Today FM and has presented the breakfast show since then.

Interview with Ian Dempsey
ARD broadcasters, L-R: Gerry Lenihan, unknown, Dave Kelly, unknown, Gareth O’Callaghan, Debbie Moore, Jim Kenny (RIP) (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

This interview was conducted by Dave Daly in 2017. We thank Dave for his donation to the archive.

Posted on

Capitol Radio jingles from 1978

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Capitol Radio jingles from 1978
L-R: Chris Barry, Alan Russell and Dave Lee in the Capitol studio in 1978 (photo courtesy of Alan Russell).

Capitol Radio broadcast to Dublin on weekends only for the second half of 1975 and returned on a full-time basis in 1978 from studios on Bachelor’s Walk in the city centre. At first it used its original wavelength of 220 metres but due to night-time interference from Radio Moscow it moved to 226 metres in October/November 1978. Capitol had an eclectic output of music and talk and continued to broadcast until 1981.

One of the station’s founders Alan Russell recalls: ‘In the early days we had a basic studio setup which gradually progressed over the months. Later we had a top of the range Citronic twin deck, built in mixer with LEDS & tape-deck, the only problem was when we modified our transmitter and increased power, the RF feedback made the Citronic decks reverse & generally go crazy. A few filters or carbon rings eventually solved the problem’.

Here’s a selection of Capitol jingles and idents from 1978 including ones for Chris Barry and Ed McDowell, the other station founders. This was before the station adapted and modified the Capital Radio London IDs in 1979. We thank Alan Russell for the information and donation of the recording.

Posted on

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4
David Baker (right) and DJ Lee at KLAS 98 in 1987 (photo courtesy of DX Archive).

In this special episode #4 of the Pirate.ie podcast, we’re delighted to bring you an interview with one of the most familiar voices on Dublin pirate radio in the 1980s, David Baker. David worked in a long list of stations ranging from Radio City, Big D and ARD to KISS FM, Radio Leinster, Heartbeat and KLAS 98. He was also heavily involved in the temporary stations set up by the Community Broadcasting Co-operative and the original Christmas station, Radio Snowflake.

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4
David (second from right) at the Glasnevin North Community Radio caravan in 1982 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

In this interview with John Walsh and Brian Greene, David looks back on his pirate days in Ireland and recalls the many stations where he worked from the late 1970s until 1988. Based in the UK for many years, he also gives his views on the radio scene today and talks about his latest project Chelmer Radio.

The Pirate.ie Podcast #4
L-R David Baker, Paula Walsh (Miss Sandymount) and Dermot Lacey in 1986 (photo courtesy of Dave Reddy).

Many thanks to David for sharing his memories with us in this special podcast.

Pirate.ie would like to thank all of our followers and contributors for their support in 2020. We will you all a very happy Christmas and hope for a better 2021 for everyone.

Posted on

Chris de Burgh interviewed on Capitol Radio (226)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Chris de Burgh interviewed on Capitol Radio (226)
Capitol Radio 226 newspaper advert (courtesy of Alan Russell).

Capitol Radio began broadcasting on the 2nd of August 1975, from Rathmines on the southside of Dublin. In its first incarnation, the station operated at weekends only on low power. It played chart music but also featured album tracks and other styles, as well as interviews with singers and musicians. Capitol was raided by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs on the 21st December 1975 and went off the air for more than two years with the exception of sporadic test transmissions. Capitol Radio returned to the air with full programming in February 1978 from studios on Bachelor’s Walk in Dublin city centre, continuing until 1981.

Chris de Burgh interviewed on Capitol Radio (226)
Kathy Doran at Capitol Radio in 1979. She had previously worked on radio in Boston (photo courtesy of Alan Russell).

The recording above was made shortly before the raid on the 14th of December 1975 and features Alan Russell on air interviewing the singer/songwriter Chris de Burgh. The multilingual ident used by the ship-based Capital Radio, which operated from international waters off the coast of the Netherlands in 1970, is heard at the end.

Chris de Burgh interviewed on Capitol Radio (226)
Alan Russell in Capitol Radio studio in 1980. Published in 2013 book ‘Where The Streets Have 2 Names’ (photo by Patrick Brocklebank, courtesy of Alan Russell).

The recording below is from 9th February 1979 and features part of a show presented by Ed McDowell, one of the founders of Capitol. It contains jingles and links as recorded off air, but the original music played has been replaced with studio versions of the same tracks, starting with ‘Thunder Child’ from the album Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds. The fully instrumental version was used as the intro for Capitol’s ‘Night Flight’ programming from 9pm, featuring various specialist & contemporary rock and new wave programmes.

A longer, original version of this broadcast is available here. Thanks to Alan Russell for information and for donating both recordings. A tribute site to Capitol is available here.